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Aquarius Yields NASA's First Global Map of Ocean Salinity

Aquarius is making NASA's first space observations of ocean surface salinity variations, a key component of Earth's climate that is linked to the cycling of freshwater around our planet and that influences ocean circulation.

Transcript:

NASA's new Aquarius instrument has produced its first global map of the salinity, or saltiness, of Earth's ocean surface. The map is a composite of the first two and a half weeks of data since Aquarius became operational on August 25. Yellow and red represent areas of higher salinity, while blues and purples indicate lower salinity. Black areas are gaps in the data.